Everything's Coming Up Roses

Early in fall, way back in March or April, dearest and I went for a drive to see what we could find.  We ended up passing through a little community, with an absolutely wonderful fresh produce market.  I found (and indulged in) the last of the season's heirloom tomatoes while we were there -- I felt obligated to buy something, as the nice lady kept the shop open for us to have a look around as we were very late in arriving.  We also took a wander through a General Store/restaurant -- and bought some assorted fudge cubes and some really good sweet onion chili marmalade.

On our way to work one day towards the end of October, we noticed a sign for a farmer's market in the same little community.  So we made plans to attend.  It was the first weekend in November, and we had a lovely Saturday mid-day adventure there.  The farmer's market was interesting -- I found some really nice vegetarian Worcestershire sauce made from apple cider, a bar of unscented goat's milk shampoo (anyone who knows me, knows I am all over artisan soaps and shampoo bars), and dearest found some seasonal beer.  We also tried some local wine -- it seems one of the benefits of living in southern Australia is that you are never more than a ten minute drive from a winery.  We tasted the local red wine.  It was much drier than I prefer, but I think dearest may have liked it.

After the wander through the stalls, we headed to the produce market, but found nothing that captured my produce fancy -- though we did see maroon carrots.  I had read about maroon carrots years ago when Texas A&M had developed them.  I thought it was a strange concept then, and seeing them live and in person did not change my mind one bit.  Think of a cross between beets and carrots and you'll have the image just about right.  I do not like beets and the maroon carrots look too much like beets for my comfort zone.  I am all for hybrids and I have nothing against genetic engineering, but maroon carrots seem to be something done because the researchers could, not because there was an actual need for them.

Freaked out by the carrots, we moved on to the General Store/restaurant, as we were getting peckish and in the mood for something nibble-able.  Nothing in the store appealed to our nibble tastes right then, though we did indulge in some herb and tomato flatbread and candy for later.

Exiting the store, we wandered towards the front of the building and found that someone somewhere had put in an order for roses, and Mother Nature delivered in a big way.  The front garden of the General Store/restaurant was a riot of colorful roses, of all varieties.  There were hybrid tea roses, classic old roses, single and double roses, big fat, full of petals Bourbon roses, and climbing roses.  I did not see green roses or Chestnut roses, but I did see tiny Picayune-style roses.

While dearest was having a grand time checking out features and apps on his brand new iPad, I wandered happily with my camera and snapped some pictures of the roses.  The only ones I failed to get decent shots of were the purple roses -- a deep rich mauve rose climbing up a white wall.  I am very sorry I could not get a good picture of those.

After dearest checked out a 360-degree photo app, we focused on finding some nibbles as we were both getting quite hungry.  We crossed the street to find another restaurant that was featuring fresh, house-made crumpets with house-made lemon butter.  That settled it.  We had found our nibbles.  We each ordered the fresh crumpets, I had mine with lemon butter, while dearest had just sweet cream butter and we indulged in some local sodas -- dearest had a simple cola while I had a pink grapefruit one.  We considered sitting in the tiny dining room and watching our crumpets being prepared, but it was such a lovely spring day that we decided to head out to the veranda and enjoy our treats outside in the fresh breeze.  Dearest let me pick the table, so I did.  There were four open tables, two in full sun which I discarded for that reason and two more in the shade.  The decision was made for me when I noticed the ladybug crawling around the sugar bowl.  That was the table for us.  I managed to snap a photo of the deciding ladybug before my memory card beeped "full" and my batteries died.

Our nibbles of fresh crumpets were just what we wanted, and we lingered a bit longer than necessary enjoying them.  After making sure we left no crumpet crumbs, finishing the last drops of the sodas, and, at least on my part, licking out the last possible bit of lemon butter, we wandered back to the car, stopping in a spa which seemed to have some handmade soaps and bath products.  There were some lovely things in the shop, but I knew I had a cupboard full of soaps, bubble baths, and lotions at home, as well as the shampoo bar I had bought earlier in the day, so I left without purchasing anything, but the knowledge that I would most certainly be back to check them out and be tempted again.

It was a very nice day out, a day I could do again and again -- but then any day that includes fresh crumpets and house-made lemon butter is certainly worth reliving.  I can still taste the crisp sweetness of the crumpets, and the rich, creamy tang of the lemon butter... mmmmmmmm.  It was a moment of culinary bliss...